There is unanimity among all Antiguans and Barbudans on the singly important and absolutely transformative role played by the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU) in modernizing our country.
The Union was founded on 16 January 1929 and served as the vehicle on which the population rode to create a new Jerusalem.
Its most outstanding leader was Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, who led the movement through its most troubling times—1944 to 1969.
Harold Carter –born 26 December 1927, died 26 December 2025, at age 98 years– joined this movement at a crucial period during one of the Trade Union’s critical trials.
Sugarcane covered the land during Comrade Carter’s youth and it was a wealth-creating agricultural crop for centuries; growing sugarcane was the raison d’etre for the existence of an Antigua, and many other Caribbean island-countries.
Enslavement of a forcibly kidnapped population preceded an era when wages replaced unpaid work in 1834.
Wages were always very low, conditions of work were barbarous, and not much changed between 1834 and 1939, including floggings, confinement, deprivation of wages, inhumane housing, poor diets and widespread illiteracy.
At age 21 years –the age of majority then– Harold Carter immersed himself in the struggle to bring meaningful change to his island-in-the-sun.
He joined the AT&LU and assumed a leadership role in his union Section; it was 1949. He witnessed first-hand the courage and coordinating in which the Union’s leadership was engaged.
Two years later, in 1951, the AT&LU would commence a pivotal struggle to free workers from the debilitating yoke that circumscribed how much descendants of the imported African peoples could achieve in their island-country.
On 1 May 1951, the trade union called on workers to celebrate the first-ever Labour Day without the benefit of law.
The Antigua Sugar Factory was led by British descendants who determined they would “starve the black workers into submission.”
Harold Carter was determined to help the weak-kneed to resist the threats and other destructive actions planned by the descendants of the slave-masters; he was certain that bravery and courage were essential in order to ensure success for the AT&LU.
A general strike was ordered by the AT&LU on 5 May 1951.
The overlords dispatched law enforcement to arrest the AT&LU section leaders, believing it would crush the struggle and reverse the momentum of the AT&LU.
Harold Carter and twelve brave young men from around the country were arrested, charged with using threatening language to workers, and found guilty by a magistrate named Athill –whom the overlords loved. Twelve were sentenced to one month in jail and one— Comrade Kelso Frederick—was sentenced to two months’ jail time because he eluded the lawmen for days.
Comrades Harold Carter, James Drew, Wills Emanuel, Renford Payne, Steven Payne, Ervin Samuel, Jessey Silcott, Alvin Tanner, Alfred Thomas, Charles Williams, Mash-um-up Simon, Kelso Frederick and Comrade Clovell Williams (who may still be alive), by going on strike on 5 May 1951, tested the illegitimacy of those slave-like laws that kept Antigua and Barbuda in a permanent state of under-development.
We owe them a debt.
These 13 brave comrades may have gone, but they all remain alive in our memories as being among the most courageous Antiguans and Barbudans who ever lived.
Like Prince Klaas and the 88 men and women who were executed in 1736/1737 for seeking freedom, these are “our living dead” for they remain in our memories and in the annals of our history, forever.
On behalf of the Government and people of Antigua and Barbuda, I express condolences to Comrade Carter’s wife, Mrs. Olga Carter, his family, his friends and the fraternity of the AT&LU and the ABLP.
He will be accorded an official funeral. May his soul rest in peace and rise in paradise!
Honourable Gaston Browne MP
Prime Minister / Leader of the ABLP
